


pinpricks of light

by senshiofthewild



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Fluff, Kissing, Mollymauk Tealeaf Lives, Newly established relationship, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Other, Rare Pairings, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, background Shadowgast, essek is also adventuring with them because yes, he's kinda recently rezzed or something i have no idea what the timeline of this is, jester has bioluminescent freckles because half water genasi, molly and caduceus are both here, rated for language and a couple innuendos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:14:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26688733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/senshiofthewild/pseuds/senshiofthewild
Summary: Molly's about to see the ocean for the very first time, and Jester delights in making it as special as possible.
Relationships: Jester Lavorre/Mollymauk Tealeaf
Comments: 2
Kudos: 35





	pinpricks of light

**Author's Note:**

> oh boooooy so i haven't written fic (at least, i haven't finished a fic) in several years. i honestly thought i was done writing fic but then this rarepair suddenly grabs me by the nonexistent horns was like 'lmao you thought' and here i am, writing some tooth-rotting fluff before the next episode inevitably destroys me with feels! anyway like i said, i haven't really written fic in a long time and this is absolutely the first bit of cr writing that i've ever published so please bear with me! i really hope you enjoy reading this!
> 
> by the way, this was inspired by a sketch i made; you can find it on my twitter @/giannivalart (without the slash!)

There was a breeze gently blowing as the Nein teleported onto the grassy clearing dotted with trees and surrounded by hills. They arrived in a circle, hands clasped (Jester informed Molly that apparently the spell did not require them all to hold hands but Essek had insisted anyway, and really, why would Molly ever argue against a session of (mostly) platonic handholding?), and took in their new surroundings.

It had been Jester who insisted they teleport to somewhere outside Nicodranas instead of directly to the Lavish Chateau, especially upon learning that this would be Molly's first time in Nicodranas and even seeing the ocean.

"You're going to love it so much!" Jester had squealed, excitedly clasping his hands in her own. If Molly hasn't already been excited for his first look at the deep blue sea, Jester's joy surely would've done it for him--that little blue tiefling's enthusiasm was one of the most contagious things he'd ever encountered, and he'd let himself catch it any day.

And now there the group stood, in a grassy clearing. Jester had run up one of the surrounding hills, insisting that the rest of the group stay below so she could scope out the best view and not ruin the surprise, as she'd said. Molly didn't mind--he loved his partner's thoughtfulness and it was only serving to build the anticipation in him. Besides, as he and the rest waited, now provided an excellent opportunity for him to engage in some sophisticated and philosophical discussion with his peers.

"And that is why your so-called _'warrior cats,'_ " Molly was smugly saying to a glaring Beau, with air quotes so he could get his point across in the most obvious way possible, "Wouldn't last ten seconds in a battle against the cats of the theater."

"Are you kidding me?" Beau retorted. "The warriors of the forest have their own complex society, and they're...you know...warriors! They're trained for combat--hell, if you read the third book they take on badgers! Badgers, Molly, do you know how big a badger is to a cat?"

It was all in good fun and they both knew it. The others, all doing their own thing, didn't pay much attention to their debate; out of the corner of his eye Molly spotted Caleb and Essek crouched under Essek's parasol, peering at a rock with chalk out, no doubt constructing a teleportation circle. And off on the horizon there was Jester flitting about on a hill, excitedly darting around before stopping on one spot, presumably thinking to herself, before checking out another spot. Molly's gaze grew softer as he watched her before Beau's voice reminded him that he was, in fact, in the middle of a very high stakes debate.

"Caleb! You're the cat person; can you come help us settle this?"

Now fully looking over by their rock, Molly watched as Caleb heaved a sigh, muttered a few words the tiefling couldn't quite hear clearly, kissed his boyfriend on the cheek, and made his way over.

"Ja, we could hear the both of you," Caleb said. "You want to know who'd win in a fight between...?"

But just at that moment is when Jester showed up as well, bouncing animatedly with her hands clasped together. She sounded extremely out of breath, but somehow, amazingly, still had the energy to talk as fast as she usually did when she got excited. "Oh my gosh, you guys, I found the perfect spot to show Molly! Can you guys wait here while I do that?"

"Yeah, sure Jes," Beau said with a smile, resting her hand on her hip.

"Have fun, you two," said Caleb as Jester hooked her arm around Molly's and skipped off, pulling him along. With a toothy Cheshire smile, Molly waved a goodbye to the group.

"Oh my gosh, Molly," Jester squealed, practically vibrating with excitement. "You're going to love this so much; I can tell! I was looking out at the coast from a bunch of those hills, and that hill over there--" She pointed at a hill not directly in front of them but slightly off to the left. "That one has the most amazing view of the ocean and the city! I don't think even I've seen Nicodranas from that angle before just now; it's wonderful!"

"Sounds absolutely amazing," Molly replied with a grin.

Just as they were about to leave the vicinity of the group, however, Jester stopped, a grin growing on her face. "Wait, I've got a totally better idea." With that, she stepped behind Molly, reached up, and covered his eyes with her hands. With a surprised "Ah!" at his vision suddenly going dark, Molly instinctively reached towards his face, but ultimately let his arms fall to his sides.

"Now it will really be a surprise!" Jester was a lot shorter than he was...was she standing on her tiptoes to do this? Oh, that was a cute image. Molly could then feel her loop her tail around his waist to help guide him to the top of the hill. "And no peeking!" she sang.

As she led him, Molly nearly tripped over his own feet and tail for the first few steps, in addition to brushing his shoulder against something soft. There was an _"Oof,"_ and a "Sorry, Caduceus!" from Jester, and off they went, their boots brushing against the grass.

"Not that I'm not wildly into sudden sensory deprivation," Molly quipped as they walked. He could tell when they first started to ascend the hill, as the flat ground became more of an effort to traverse. "But when can I look?"

Jester giggled, and Molly felt a tail that wasn't his own swat his ass. _Cheeky._ "Right when we get to the top of this hill," she promised. "I want it to be extra special."

As they ascended, Molly could now smell something new, something he tried to put a name to but for the life of him could not. It was...intriguing, to say the least. It was faintly yet distinctly salty, but it was so alien to him that that was about all he could identify. The breeze itself was cool, but not too cold for his liking, feeling rather pleasant on his face as it made his coat and Jester's skirt whip gently about. Off in the distance were bird calls unlike any other he'd ever heard, and Molly pictured the sea birds from stories he'd heard and retold. Were they just as colorful as his favorite peacocks, with shimmering feathers made of water droplets? His tail began to flick back and forth in excitement as a grin crept onto his face.

"Okay," Jester said as she abruptly stopped, causing Molly to stop in his tracks as well. As her tail unlooped from his waist, he could now feel the breeze on his entire body, ruffling his hair and making the jewelry on his horns and tail jingle about. "And...open 'em!"

Jester removed her hands from his eyes, and after blinking a couple of times to adjust to the sudden light, Molly took in the scene in front of him.

His jaw dropped.

Beautiful couldn't even begin to describe it. Not even the wildest tale from the people at the circus was able to capture the sheer vastness in front of Molly's eyes, the expanse of shimmering blue extending out beyond the distant city. It was magnificent, and Molly couldn't tear his eyes away even if he wanted to. He could see the birds making those strange calls now, and while they weren't the colorful beings from his imagination they were still new and wonderful to behold. There were so many ships out on the water, and he couldn't help but wonder what sort of stories they brought. Pirates, heroic sailors, jeweled vessels designed to transport royalty...the possibilities seemed just as endless as the ocean itself.

"So..." Jester nudged his shoulder with her own, and when Molly looked back at her he saw that she was wearing one of the biggest grins he'd ever seen. "What do you think?"

"Fuck..." Molly breathed, gazing back at the sprawling view of Nicodranas and the ocean beyond. Jester giggled beside him. "It's..." He shook his head, trying to find the right words. "...Holy fucking shit."

Jester sat down on the gently waving grass, smoothing out her skirt as it pooled around her. With a smile, she patted the ground next to her, inviting Molly to come sit. Molly did so, and carefully so that their horns didn't tangle, Jester laid her head on his shoulder.

"This wasn't the exact view from my window, of course," she said, gesturing at the scene in front of them. "But it's still really cool, I think. Oh, but you should see the view from my window! It's much closer to the water from here, and you can see all the ships and stuff, and sometimes you can see dolphins, and the birds diving into the water, and one time I even saw a whale! Molly, it was so big! It breached from the water and everything!"

Molly wrapped his arm around her shoulders, hugging her close as a purr came from deep in the smaller tiefling's throat. "That sounds wonderful, dear," he said softly with a small chuckle. "Gustav said he'd been out at sea once. Made it sound like this grand adventure...and honestly I'm rather inclined to believe him."

"My Mama has a bunch of stories about the ocean," Jester responded, taking his hand that wasn't wrapped around her shoulders and weaving her fingers through his. "And we had our own adventures out at sea, too! You should ask Fjord and Beau; they love telling the stories of our time as pirates. Maybe we can all go sailing again, and you could come along with us! Oh! And you see those birds out there?" With her free hand she gestured at the sea birds flying way out in the distance. "They're technically albatrosses, technically, but Mama also called them..."

"...Mollymauks," they both said, turning their gazes towards each other.

"Gustav did tell me he named me after a bird," Molly said as the memory crossed his mind.

"Did he tell you sailors view them as good luck?" Jester asked.

Molly frowned as he tried to remember. "Don't think he did? Maybe he didn't hear that one." Then, a wide, toothy grin made its way onto his face as he was suddenly struck with a realization. "Say...does this mean _I'm_ good luck?"

Jester squeezed his hand. "Well...I think you're lucky. Lucky to have me!" she teased, sticking her tongue out between her teeth as she gave him another playful nudge.

This time, Molly returned the favor, sticking his tongue out as well in kind. Another giggle from Jester.

"Well...lucky in general, too," she added, her tail twining with his as her smile grew softer.

That's when Molly noticed it--or, rather, them. He was, of course, observant--he knew that Jester's freckles were unusually light, but it wasn't until now, looking deep into her face, that he realized they were actually shimmering.

"Your freckles," he murmured, gently brushing her face with the back of his hand.

"My...oh!" Slowly, Jester brought a hand up to her face. "Apparently it's hard to see unless you're looking super close, but yeah, Mama says they're magical. Although I think she was just saying that; I don't think they're actually magical."

"You literally sparkle," said Molly in wonderment. "They're like..." He glanced back at the ocean, shimmering blue with little pinpricks of sunlight. "They're like the light on the ocean."

Jester's cheeks colored an adorable shade of purple, making her freckles shine a pinker light as opposed to the teal from before. Molly was positively enraptured.

"You're sweet," she said, almost bashfully.

"You're magnificent," Molly replied easily with his signature toothy grin.

"Can I kiss you?" Jester blurted out, and the suddenness of her request caused Molly to let out a small bout of laughter before he responded.

"Of _course_ you can, dear."

It wasn't their first kiss. It wasn't even their second. But Jester was still clearly new to the art of kissing; while nowhere near as clumsy as their first kiss, her fang would still occasionally scrape his lip on accident. However, she more than made up for it in an enthusiasm that was so uniquely Jester, and Molly wouldn't have it any other way. He cupped her cheek as the kiss deepened, her arms reaching up and resting on his shoulders. Their tails intertwined more tightly than before, the spades lightly brushing against each other. Molly smiled against her lips and felt a rush of affection for his partner as he could feel her smiling too and right now all he wanted was to be close, to love her and to feel her on his skin and--

"Ah, I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"

Both tieflings jumped, having completely forgotten that the rest of their party were in fact standing below the hill. And right behind them stood Caleb, looking awkward and somewhat impatient. But mostly awkward.

Oh, that's right, the others were all waiting for them. Oops.

"Oh, sorry Cay-leb!" Jester squeaked, giving Molly a kiss on the cheek before springing up, offering him a hand so she could pull him up too. Molly took it.

"I do hope we didn't keep you waiting for too long," Molly said breezily, in a tone he hoped conveyed he was only half sorry.

"Essek and I are just about finished with the teleportation circle," Caleb informed them, twiddling his chalk in his fingers. "We just need to draw the last rune--you two ready to come down?"

"Mhmm!" Jester said, while Molly shrugged and gave a "Sure!" Their tails still intertwined, the tieflings followed Caleb down the hill towards the rest of the party waiting below.

About halfway down, Jester wrapped her arms around Molly's midsection. "You're gonna love Nicodranas, I swear," she murmured, pressing the side of her face against him. "You're gonna meet my Mama, and Bluud, and Nugget, and Yeza and Luc, and Orly and Marius and you're gonna have SO much fun with us on the sea and in the town, and maybe Orly could give you a magic tattoo like the ones me and Beau and Veth and Yasha have, and...and..."

Molly pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I really, really look forward to it," he replied sincerely.

Before long, they reunited with the rest of the group. Beau wasted no time coming up to them, grin on her face and arms crossed in front of her.

"Hey, while you two were up there making out, Caleb told me I won the debate."

"I did not," Caleb corrected, and Molly immediately stuck his tongue out at her. "I wanted to wait until we got to Frau Lavorre's residence because I have seen both of these productions you two were discussing and I have my own thoughts."

"Which basically means I win," Molly interjected smugly.

"I did not say that either," Caleb sighed.

"Come on, you guys!" Jester was practically bouncing on her feet in a way that was oh so adorable. Molly wanted to scoop her up and kiss her again right then and there. "I want to give Molly a grand tour of the entire city!"

"Shouldn't we give Yussa a message in advance first before we barge into his tower again?" Beau asked.

"Who's Yussa?" Molly asked, glancing back toward the monk.

"Old wizard guy, has a tower like Essek's except less depressing."

"Too late!" came Veth's voice, and as it turned out, the aforementioned drow wizard had already completed the circle, and Fjord, Yasha, and Caduceus were just about to step through. "To Nicodranas!"

"To Nicodranas!" Molly echoed with verve.

"To Nicodranas!" everyone else reverbed, not even close to being in sync in true Mighty Nein fashion.

"This is gonna be so great, Molly, just you wait," Jester gushed, and as the two of them followed the others through the circle, Molly found himself agreeing wholeheartedly.

**Author's Note:**

> part of me wants to write a sequel to this but i have no idea what i'd want to have happen besides molly drinking seawater and regretting it
> 
> also rip yussa


End file.
